I don't know how any of you can enjoy driving without a lower tie bar. Took mine off today and the car without it feels sloppy as hell....the steering is far less responsive and the car leans considerably more up front when turning. I've had it on for so long I forgot what it felt like without it.

Before you ask, I took it off for:

1. because I am replacing my motor mounts tomorrow, and the LTB is in the way and
2. because it's ski season and there's a good chance I will be driving in deep snow and on dirt roads at ski resorts and wanted a bit of ground clearance back.

It will be going back on when the snow tires come off.

I seriously don't know what you guys without an LTB are doing though....it's clearly one of the most effective handling mods for the car...

 

Sorry for my ignorance but the LTB2 acts like an anti-sway? I thought it just tied the chassis together like a tower brace up top. I can see how the steering would be tighter but body lean?

 

It's actually minor but....if you look at the LCA setup (Brian, I know you have...) the bushings are pretty meaty and there is a good amount of compression to them under hard cornering. The LTB (at least in my impression) reduces this compression so there is less LCA movement under load. Plus it reduces the twisting of the front subframe under cornering to some extent.

Perhaps "body lean" is not the correct terminology for it, but that's the "feeling" it has.

I thought you had one of these anyways? Or are you just playing Devil's Advocate

 

where would I be able to purchase one of these? I am working on my braking and suspension systems. Then probably during the summer I will work on power.

 

where would I be able to purchase one of these? I am working on my braking and suspension systems. Then probably during the summer I will work on power.

 

....RSB, FSTB and coilovers work pretty well for me.

I'm sure the LTB helps a lot, but with my drop it would be risky for me, even in the summer.

 

Hey Tom

I sold my LTB stage2 to Cale who is riding on Boss Chens and he scrapes A LOT, he also claims he cant tell a diffrence with it on.

 

he must not drive very hard

 

I guess it depends on how low you are. With eibachs (and h-techs before that) I've scraped it a grand total of 3 times in almost 2 years. And I drive on alot of bad roads, etc.

I actually kept it on all last winter....

 

i could really tell a diffirence after i installed mine. better daily driving and reduced auto-x times.
ive scrapped it a couple times but just on really sh1tty roads
i plan on just keeping mine on...i can go plow the roads for people

 

hmmm because I'm not looking at getting headers any more... and because you claim its very effective I may look at getting a stage 2 LTB given I start making some money with my new job.

I fear though that once I've got my bushings installed and the stage 2 LTB installed I'll have done just about everything...

Which meens I dont know where I'll go from there with the I35

Maybe a carputer with a touchscreen in place of the bose HU?

 

cause I have headers.

 

,.. now if only the easy coast would get some snow..i was in killington, VT skiing in the rain past few days.. anyways...

is Bhlemco still producing these? or are they hard to find,.. i've wanted one for a long time,..

 

http://www.mattblehm.com/suspension.htm

 

Yeah it's officially i'm going to cop Karim's as soon as I get a chance and slap her on when I have the time

 

So you're telling me I should prob get one.

 

can anyone comment the clearance of the stage 1 vs the stage 2???

Also the difference in handling?? Also how are they taking speed bumps?

 

Also is alignment affected when installing/Removing?

 

Clearance is not different, you lose about 1.5 inches. Alignment is not affected (but installing can be a b!tch to get rear bolts to lign up and not to cross thread them).

 

Yes a little bit of DA play there. And just a LTB1 here myself. Didn't want the thread becoming those "hey the strut tower stops body roll" things.

 

there is no clearance diffirence with the stages. the stage 2 just extends further back (wider when seen from below)

speed bumps are no problem because the bar is where the wheels are. when the wheels go over a speedbump, the bars goes up at the same time. it may scrap if you go over the bump at an angle

 

I couldn't imagine driving my car without one now. Just wish I didn't have that annoying creaking once in a while, but I have enough rattles to make up for it. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to remove it I guess for the ES MMs soon. irish, are you replacing your mounts with ES or OEM?

 

How about you quit being such a handling snob?

 

I've had no clearence problems with mine, no scraping at all. Although I do make sure that I go over all speed bumps straight, not at an angle. The STB stage 2 is an amazing upgrade, for those of you who don't have one, you don't know what you're missing!

 

holy crap I know exactly what you mean! I took mine off a couple weeks ago because I was never able to get that passenger side rear corner to stay attached and my car feels like ****...My dash is rattling again, my steering response sucks, and I have a **** load of snap oversteer now....My car used to be 100% neutral and now even around the smallest turns I have oversteer...I want it back on, but I can't install it until I replace that right subframe piece and get it on a lift (it's been re-tapped one too many times )

 

I bought some new OEM motor mounts (entire assemblies) off ebay for cheap and installed them for now. I also have the ES inserts in my basement, which I'll get press into my old mounts that are now off the car, sometime this winter....and re-install them in the spring.

 

Are the threads stripped or is the LTB off square and won't line up? Mine was off and took a few hits with a hammer to get the holes to line up. I was still a bioch to get the rear bolts started without cross threading them. If I take mine off, it will be for good.

 

I've had the same problem every time mine has come off or on. While it's off this time I'm taking measurements and probably having a metal shop alter it just a little bit, to be the correct fit. that rear passenger side sucks for fit, and I totally stripped tht hole as well. Luckily I have a Snap-on tap and the correct size tap to rethread that hole (which I just did forthe first time).

 

hey Irish, can you take pix of the before and after you alter the bar?
thanks.

 

I <3'ed my stage 2 LTB
It ranks up there with my Fidanza and Heim Joints

 

I stripped the tap in the subframe quite a few times as a result of poor fitment on that right rear corner and after a while i was forced to make a larger hole and use helicoil inserts...well that didn't work too well because whenever I would hit a large bump the helicoil would shift causing that corner to come loose again and make that annoying @$$ creaking noise so I finally got fed up with it and took it off.

I'll put it back on when I have access to a lift and after I get that subframe piece replaced

 

It felt bad when I removed mine, the drop with the D2 make LTB2 to scrape on the road, so i'm going to try to raise the D2 by an inche or so and see if I can put the LTB2 back on,otherwise I can only think of swapping the D2 for Illumina and some good spring. The D2 are fantastic for the price but for the ride the coilover are rough and I want to get back to the pleasure of driving this car without damaging my kidneys, this will be until I find a 2002 or 2003 M5 but that's another story.